As methods of realizing stereoscopic video display without requiring special glasses, a parallax barrier system, a lenticular lens system, and so on have been conventionally known. In the systems, right eye videos and left eye videos which have binocular parallax are alternately displayed on a display screen in a stripe shape. Accordingly, a stereoscopic effect in the horizontal direction is obtained. However, a stereoscopic effect in the vertical direction cannot be obtained, with which a viewer is unsatisfied. Further, outside a proper viewing position, such a phenomenon called reversed view that a left eye video is incident on the right eye, while a right eye video is incident on the left eye, for example, occurs. Accordingly, the viewing position cannot be freely selected, which is inconvenient.
On the other hand, in recent years, a stereoscopic video display method called a light beam reproduction system capable of freely selecting a viewing position has been proposed. The light beam reproduction system is a system for recording and reproducing on a plane information related to light beams passing through the plane (i.e., the directions of the light beams corresponding to light scattered from an object and the spread of the light beams). A reproducing apparatus therefor can be constituted by a backlight 651, a pinhole array plate 652, and a liquid crystal display panel 653, as shown in FIG. 23(a), for example. It can be seen that light beams are emitted in several directions in a predetermined range from each of pinholes 652a in the pinhole array plate 652. A pixel region 653a (composed of 9 to 20 pixels in width and 3 to 20 pixels in length, for example) corresponding to each of the pinholes 652a is formed in the liquid crystal display panel 653. Lines respectively connecting the centers of the pinholes 652a and the centers of the pixel regions 653a are parallel to one another. Each of the pixels composing the pixel region 653a controls an amount of light transmission of the light beam in each of the directions from the corresponding pinhole 652a. Consequently, the intensity of the light beam in each of the directions is reproduced. More specifically, an amount of light transmission is reproduced at each of the pixels in correspondence with a predetermined point of an object A. For example, an amount of light transmission which represents a portion A1 of the object A is set at a pixel a1 in a pixel region 653a1 which will receive a light beam from a pinhole 652a1, an amount of light transmission which represents a portion A2 of the object A is set at a pixel a2 in a pixel region 653a2 which will receive a light beam from a pinhole 652a2, an amount of light transmission which represents a portion A3 of the object A is set at a pixel a3 in a pixel region 653a3 which will receive a light beam from a pinhole 652a3, as shown in FIG. 23(b). Consequently, a viewer Z recognizes the object A in a stereoscopic manner. If the viewer Z moves downward, as shown in FIGS. 24(a) and 24(b), the object X is recognized as if it were seen from below by detouring.
Meanwhile, in such a stereoscopic video display using a light beam reproduction system, the viewer Z can be made to recognize the video in a stereoscopic manner on the above-mentioned principle. However, it is a problem to make the viewer Z recognize a more real stereoscopic impression.
A computer (a computer graphic technique) is used for a video production system for producing video data supplied to such a stereoscopic video display using a light beam reproduction system. That is, the video production system is so configured that a polygon object and a plurality of pinholes are virtually arranged on the computer, to calculate data related to each of recording pixels composing each of recording pixel regions on a recording surface virtually provided which is positioned on a line connecting each of points composing the polygon object and the pinhole (data which will set an amount of light transmission by a video display panel in a video display system).
Specifically, a point Xa composing an object X passes through a pinhole 660 virtually provided, and is reproduced by a light beam A leading to a recording pixel a in a recording pixel region 661 on a recording surface virtually provided, as shown in FIG. 25. Accordingly, the recording pixel a is subjected to calculation processing such that it is made to have data representing the point Xa. Similarly, recording pixels b to i corresponding to light beams B to I are also subjected to calculation processing. The positional relationship between the pinhole 660 and the recording pixel region 661 in the video production system is set in correspondence with the positional relationship between each of the pinholes 652a and the pixel region 653a in the video display system, for example.
In such a stereoscopic video display using a light beam reproduction system, a viewer Z can be made to recognize a video in a stereoscopic manner on the above-mentioned principle. However, improvements are demanded in a video production system in addition to improvements in a video display system in order to make the viewer more effectively recognize a stereoscopic video.